Is Travel Ball the best way?

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Nov 18, 2013
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HS ball is great for stats and news articles but the competition is typically low and the season is at the same time as college - coaches will not see her! TB with college showcasing is a way to get her seen but she must tell the coaches she is there and when. As another responded those 200 girl camps are useless. Find the skills ones that her college coaches will be at. They will get a small window to meet them in drills and be able to show her enthusiasm and coachability.

The real key is her reaching out to them. My DD was a late bloomer and ‘came out of nowhere’ in her HS years. Too many mediocre TB teams. Once she got lessons from Hillhouse her game became top notch. With the new change in NCAA recruiting she would have been fine. Unfortunately, back then, schools signed all their pitcher slots in 8th grade! When she was a hot commodity in her Soph/Jr. year it was too late.

It does come down to her willingness to do the extra. She has to want it as it is her future not yours. My DD ended up with a top D3 and was happy to have a college life while making NCAA regionals 3 of her 4 years and Super regionals 1 year. Of her 7 TB friends going to mid to low level D1’s only 4 made it graduation still on the team. None of them had the college life she did, only two still want to play and none of them had post season play. Factor that in as well.

College coaches DO attend HS games. Not in the numbers of the big showcases of course, but they are there. The D1’s are usually only watching girls they’re already recruiting, but it’s not uncommon to see D2’s or D3’s looking for prospects. Very few players verballed in 8th grade. Any D1 caliber player 10th or even 11th grade would have had no trouble finding a D1 team that coveted them. It's never too late. Lots of D1's even hold open tryouts after school has started. Sure it's a long shot, but we added several players that way.

I applaud college athletes at any level for their hard work and dedication. The most important thing is finding a school a girl loves and where she’ll want to be regardless of softball. You addressed some common misconceptions in your last paragraph. Her college life was awesome! Attending D1 football and basketball games free of charge. Days off at the ocean, hitting the hot spots in cities across the country and flying on charter jets to get there. Academically the resources at large D1 universities are beyond compare. The kids have their own academic advisers, tutors, study halls, computer labs and just about anything else to be successful. The softball teams play in the nicest stadiums, have the newest equipment and get more free gear than you can imagine. She never made the NCAA regionals. never had any conference championships and very few awards. Softball wise the biggest thing she got is to never have to wonder if she could compete at the highest level.

Again, I applaud athletes at any level. There’s good, bad, highs and lows everywhere. I’m not trying to act like a D1 snob or that it’s the end all, be all because it’s not. There’s plenty of disadvantages and lots of sacrifices I skipped over. I’m not trying to jump on you specifically. You just hit a nerve with some of your comments and I don't want any kid dissuaded from pursuing their dreams. It's hard work, but the life of a D1 or any athlete isn't all that bad.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
That is surprising..I would think they would just put them at 1B. Does that usually work out?

When you lose on a passed ball, no. When the converted catcher hits a walk off, yes :)

The cases I've seen it the girl was converted to back up catcher and primarily used as DP. One of daughters coaches didn't want to recruit any catchers even though we only had one on our roster. The next coach signed four in his first season. Some kids hop teams and see different coaching philosophies. She stayed put and saw three different head coaches and saw how differently they think.
 

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